The Arizona sentinel., 1887-03-12
SWoRDFISHES' HABITS.

How They "Spear" the Bottoms of Ships,
 When Angry-OId Beliefs About Them.
 Among the objects frequently to be observed in museums of natural history the timbers of ships pierced with sword fishes are by no means uncommon. Ordinarily speaking, and as far as naturalist opinions go. the swordfish appears to be peaceable enough. When, however, the fish is irritated or enraged its disposition because out rageously fierce. Presumably it is then that it vents its temper on the un- offending timbers of ships. A certain schooner, named the Volunteer, hailing from the port of Gloucester, Mass, found itself in the the neighborhood of Book Island. About four o'clock on that day, the vessel reeled from a sud- den shock, which at first suggested the possibility of having struck some hidden reef. The weather was so fine that the Volunteer was well nigh becalmed, and fortunately captain and crew had plenty of leisure and opportunity to take things calmly in face of the mysterious danger which threatened them. A glance over the side of the vessel sufficed to reveal the cause of the shock. A swordfish of large size was seen in the act of charging the ship once again. It retreated, and then rushing through the water renewed its assault with great vigor. A boat was quickly manned, and harpooner duly dispatched the assailant, which was found to weigh three hundred pounds. In due time the Volunteer was docked at Gloucester, when an inspection was made of the vessels keel. It was then found that about six feet from the vessels stem, near the top of the keel, the sword had entered the wood, and had actually broken four times as the assault of the fish was renewed Ennr pieces of the weapon were found embedded in the keel. The fish had thus used its dam aged sword again and again in the course of it's attack, and, oblivious of hurt and pain, had sacrificed itself in the pursuit of an utterly unjustifiable rage.
 Tales of its combats with whales and porpoises figure in natural history. The swordfsh charges the great sea mammals and spears them with as deadly thrust as ever harpooner gave.
 The great narwhal enjoys the repu- tation ofpossessing the longest tooth in the world, since this organ grows to form twisted ivory pole, which may occasionally attain length of nine or ten feet. Thus armed the animal would seem to present a much more formidable front than the sword-fish itself. But by all accounts, the sea- unicorn is relatively quiet and peacea- blG creature. by no means given to attacking any thing or any body, save perchance, as Oar win tells us, to engage in occasional combats with its own rivals and with its own kith and kin. As far as our in- formation extends. we fail to discover any instance of a narwhal using his long tooth to probe the timbers of a ship. In olden times, the tooth was much valued as remedy against pois- on; virtue, by the way. which the horn of the mythical land-unicorn was likewise believed to possess.
 Baffin, of Baffin's Bay fame, wrote of this animal, that ''it being a great fish, having long horn or bone growing forth of its forehead or nostril. such as Sir Martin Frobisher in his second voy- age found one, in diverse places we saw them, which if the horne be of any good value, no doubt that many of them may be killed" In Hakluyt's Travels Frobisher himself describing the mar whal, speaks of it as having ''in his nose a horne streight and torquet, of length two yards lacking two ynches." He then proceeds to test his presumably medicinal powers. Being broken in the top, here we might perceive it hollow, into which some of our sailors putting spiders, they presently died" Wisely, per haps, for the credit of his own narra- tive, Sir Martin adds that he ''saw not the tarill hereof, but it was reported unto me of truth; by the virtue whereof we supposed if to be the sea unicorna."
 This was rather a curious fashion of judging the character of an animal by the effects of his horns upon innocent spiders, and the.tale smacks somewhat of the Clans Magnus type after all. The sword-fish and the narwhal, how ever, are well known to modern zoologists, and the former must be added to the list of occasional perils which threaten the welfare of those who travel by sea.-LO1doD Daily | NelCs.
 A BIG ORDER.